Graphics card help

[memo6]

I have a nvidia geforce 6100 video card in my computer right now, and i been looking to upgrade but i cant tell what to buy, im not 100% sure how much better it would or wouldn't be. I'm looking to spend 100-200 dollars on a video card so if someone can refer me a place to buy or which kind to look for i would appreciate the help.

[hockey man]

Welcome to the PcGuide! First off, before we can reccomend a new graphics card we need to know what your PSU is rated for. Please open up your case and type the Watt ratings and the ratings for the different rails.

[saphalline]

GeForce 6100 and 6150 are onboard video, usually for AMD Socket 754 systems. PCIe capable chipsets, but while you have your case open you better double-check that. Some OEM systems have a severe lack of good expansion slots. PCIe x16 is the type of slot that's good right now, PCI is bad (for vid cards). Just check that while you're looking up your PSU's specs.

[memo6]

i belive i do have a PICe slot

i dont know 100% what the parts are exactly i only took a basic computer class, but my powersupply says

5v& + 3.3v = 180w max
+5v& + 12v& + 3.3v = 288w max

if these arent the right numbers let me know im still learning..

btw i was lookin at motherboards and i noticed they come with graphics cards on em(i prolly already knew that and forgot.) where would i put the new one anyway?

[saphalline]

288W? Ouch! Well... you can put in a lower end vid card like a GeForce 6600 (non-GT) or Radeon X700. Those would probably be safe enough. No higher, though. Not unless you want to replace the PSU, too.

btw i was lookin at motherboards and i noticed they come with graphics cards on emSome of them do, but not nearly all of them. On average, only about 1/4 or 1/5 of all mobo's have onboard video. The rest require a dedicated vid card.

A new vid card would go into an expansion slot. Either PCI or PCIe. PCIe would be preferable since you said your system has one. It's a PCIe x16 slot, right? There are smaller PCIe slots, like x4 and x1. You need the big long x16 slot for a vid card.

[memo6]

im pretty sure its 16slot how much are new psu?

[hockey man]

Around $60 for a low-wattage quality PSU and from there up. Before we go that for though, what do you want to accomplish with this card?

[paul_]

I got a great 550W PSU (more than you should need) for around $85. If you want to run a fairly new graphics card, look for ~400W. Probably $75.

-P

[hockey man]

There is more to PSU than just the from Watt rating. . .so you have to be careful what you buy. One of my favorites for a basic system is this ENERMAX EG425P-VE SFMA 2.0 ATX12V 420W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103459) for $65. However, if you do not want to game, we could recoomend a lower card that would work with what you have now. That is why we need to know what you wand the card to do.

[memo6]

mostly gaming, when i swap the power supply is there anything i have to change with the computer settings or anything like that or is it like RAM where u just put it in

[hockey man]

No, you won't have to do anything but plug the new PSU in. This is the issue you are going to run into. I have to run here, but with a budget of $200-$65 that gives us $135 to work with. . I don't have the time know to link hunt, but look for a 6600GT for starters. . .would you be willing to increase the budget at all? Also, how much RAM do you have?

[memo6]

i looked online and emachines says my computer has a 300w power supply

[memo6]

i have 1,500+ of ram, and yes i am willing to increase the budget (as soon as i have my credit card bill paid off) then i can look to spend at the very most $400 im still going to swap the 512mb ram out and putting in another 1gb to max it out


*actually i could do ALOT more in the summer (over 500) but this should be fine for now

[hockey man]

If you are going to have a higher budget in the summer, it would be best to just wait until then. It makes no sense to upgrade a few components to average hardware now. So, save your money, and when you have it all together, start a new thread and we can help you from there. In my opinion that would be the bes thing to do.